Free-energy conservation in local gyrofluid models

The details of fluctuation free-energy conservation in gyrofluid models are examined. The polarization equation relates ExB flow and eddy energy to combinations of the potential and the density and perpendicular temperature. These determine the combinations which must appear under derivatives in the moment equations so that not only thermal free energy but also its combination with the ExB energy is properly conserved by the parallel and perpendicular compressional effects. The resulting system exhibits the same qualitative energy-transfer properties as corresponding Braginskii or Landau fluid models. One clear result is that the numerical model built on these equations is well behaved for arbitrarily large perpendicular wave number, allowing exploration of two scale phenomena linking dynamics at the ion and electron gyroradii. When the numerical formulation is done in the globally consistent flux tube model, the results with adiabatic electrons are consistent with the "Cyclone base case" results of gyrokinetic models.